Northrop Grumman, Cheyenne Leaders Discuss ICBM Upgrade [VIDEO]

Officials from Northrop Grumman, one of two major defense firms vying for the roughly $80 billion, decades-long Ground Based Strategic Deterrent (GBSD) project, were back in Cheyenne today (Tuesday) trying to get an idea of what challenges lie ahead of them.

The Trump administration, in August, placed orders with Northrop Grumman and Boeing to start working on technology for new intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) to replace the Cold War-era Minuteman III.

"We understand that there's unique challenges and opportunities in each community that this weapons system will be deployed in," said Carol Erikson, Vice President of Northrop Grumman's GBSD Program.

"We want to have early engagements with the community to understand those unique challenges and those unique opportunities and to take those into account as we work on our design," she added.

Erikson says they won't know until 2020 whether they get the GBSD project, but regardless of which contractor the Air Force selects, Cheyenne wins.

"It ultimately will have a very large impact on the community," said Erikson. "It should be at least as significant as the previous installation when the Peacekeeper mission was installed here."